As the new season of NCAA collegiate wrestling has begun, the rivalries between several competing colleges have been rekindled as well. This also includes the most bitter collegiate wrestling rivalry between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones. 

David Carr is a former Junior World Wrestling Champ who represented the US in the 74kg weight class. Hailing from the Iowa State Cyclones, Carr is a first-hand witness of how ugly things can get when the Cyclones and the Hawkeyes clash against each other. In fact, he recently recalled a previous dual that had almost turned into a fistfight between the two universities.

A wrestling dual that spiraled out of control within minutes

The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones are soon going to face each other once again on 26 November. Both teams are heading into their next match with a perfect campaign so far as the Cyclones host the next dual. Speaking in regard to the same, David Carr recently appeared in a podcast and gave a personal account of a near all-out war.

According to Carr, “Desanto was wrestling, and threw our guy (Ramazan) into the table. Ramazan threw an elbow back. Right. From that point on, like, chirping started. Brands (Hawkeyes Head Coach) is chirping at us. We go to the Yongers match. During the Yongers match, these guys are taunting and yelling at us. They’re making fun of Yonger. Yonger takes them down. We’re going nuts.” 

This turn of events demanded the referee to act and try to calm the situation down. In an attempt to achieve the same, Carr mentioned that the referee turned to him and said, “Hey, you’re the leader. If you guys can shake hands… make sure you’re respectful to them…” However, this was nothing but a feeble attempt to restore order, as even the coaches got involved in the fight. 

When rival coaches joined the scuffle instead of calming it down

Things escalated several notches when the coaches of both sides let their protective side for their teams take over their conduct. Carr recalled, “We’re like holding back the coaches because they were like yelling at each other. Both Brands and our coach were kind of yelling at each other. Are you guys about to fight? Like, I thought the coaches were actually about to throw hands.”

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Hawkeyes’ head coach Tom Brands had recently taken the side of the Cyclones along with his own students in the recent wrestling betting scandal. However, even he failed to keep his cool when both sides faced each other. The Hawkeyes currently lead the head-to-head dual wins with a score of 68-16-2. Moreover, the Cyclones are currently on an 18-match losing streak against the Hawkeyes. Will the ISU men’s wrestling team break free from this series of consecutive defeats on 26 November?

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